Try, Try Again Chapter 24 of 29
A/N: This chapter has spoilers for “The Power of Three Blondes”. Again, this is AU so the story is being told out of order and in a different manner than the original episodes. Thank you for your understanding.
Chapter 24
Imposters
Chris and Leo returned to the manor after retrieving Wyatt from Magic School. Piper ran over and held Chris in a crushing hug. She had couldn’t believe they almost caused him to cease to exist! They were going to have to watch that boy much more carefully. She could not imagine a life without him in it now. She unconsciously placed a protective hand over her stomach as she let go of the hug. Giving her son a smile she made a promise to herself to keep the boy safe; even if it meant safe from himself.
The family sat around the dining room table enjoying a meal created by Piper. Idle chatter filled the air. Finally Leo decided it was time to tell the sisters about Chris’s plan. “We’ve been trying to figure out a way for me to stay an Elder but remain here on Earth. The other Elders have been trying to get me to stay up there. Piper and I both believe that Gideon was the one responsible for the darklighter being able to move us to the ghostly plane.”
With that Paige and Phoebe glanced at each other. They hadn’t considered how Piper and Leo were put into the other plane of existence. They had just been focusing on getting them back out.
Leo continued, “While Chris was up at Magic School he came up with a great idea.” Leo then gestured to Chris for him to finish the story.
“Yeah, well,” Chris started, “I was thinking of a way for Dad,” he smiled over at Leo when he said the name, “To stay here but I couldn’t think up anything. When Wy and I were up at Magic School I heard that Gideon’s assistant, Sigmund, had died during the Titan attack. Sigmund was an Elder too. If they needed two Elders to run the school, why couldn’t Dad be the other one?
“If he could get the other Elders to agree then he could work there during the day and still come home every night,” Chris finished off and slowly looked around the room.
Piper was beaming. Not only was this a fabulous plan but it meant that the little talk Chris and Leo had seemed to have worked. “That is a wonderful idea, Chris,” she said and then looked to Leo, “Do you think you can get the other Elders to agree?”
Leo smiled and said, “I can only think of one that would oppose it and that would be Gideon. I do believe that I can get the other Elders on my side though since Chris is right about Sigmund; then there is no reason why there shouldn’t be a second Elder there.”
Phoebe nodded saying, “I think that idea is perfect, Chris.”
Chris blushed at all of the unexpected praise as he got up to start clearing the table. Leo got up to help him and he ruffled Chris’s hair as he passed him. The two began to do the dishes in silence before Chris finally voiced the last part of the plan, “Umm, Dad.”
Leo looked over but when Chris didn’t say any more he asked, “Yeah, Son?”
Chris pressed his lips together, took in a deep breath and said, “I was thinking, when you go up there that I should go with you.”
Leo was ready to deny the boy outright but Chris pushed forward.
“Wait, hear me out. I can go and listen in on them and they won’t be able to see me. That way if they have any concerns, you can address them,” Chris had already thought this out. He had a bad feeling that his dad wouldn’t let him go but he just had to make this work. He already liked the idea of having a family. He didn’t want to be the reason that his parents had to split up. He knew that his dad was only staying an Elder to protect Chris. He put forth his best puppy dog eyes and said, “Please, Dad. I have to do this.”
Leo wasn’t sure if he should allow the boy to take that kind of risk but when he saw the look his youngest was giving him, he almost caved. “Let me talk with your mom and if she agrees then we will go together.”
Chris reached out and hugged his father saying, “Thanks Dad.” But he quickly dropped his hands feeling suddenly self-conscious.
Leo wasn’t having that, he hugged the boy tighter. Now that he had his son in his life, he was going to do everything in his power to prove his love for the boy. Chris lifted his arms back around his father and relaxed into the hug after a moment. Leo kissed the top of Chris’s head and whispered, “I love you, Son.”
Chris heard the declaration but didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure he was ready to verbalize his feelings. Instead he squeezed a second longer, broke off the hug, then picked the towel back up and began to dry the dishes again.
The three sisters talked for a few more minutes before Paige announced that she needed to get some sleep since she started her new temp job tomorrow. Phoebe said she wanted to go out with Jason so she headed up to get ready. Piper took Wyatt up for a bath.
Later that night while in bed, Leo discussed Chris’s desire to go up there with him.
Piper was adamant, “No. I won’t put him in harm’s way!”
Leo smiled, “He won’t be in danger. None of the Elders can see him. I think he’s right, if they have any objections then he will hear them and we can be better prepared.”
Piper laid her head down on Leo’s chest and sighed, “Are you sure he’ll be safe?”
Leo ran his fingers through his wife’s hair as he said, “I promise, Piper. I don’t want him in danger either, he’s my son too.” He smiled as he said those words.
Chris silently crept back to his room after eavesdropping in on his parent’s conversation. He went to bed with a smile on his face and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
That morning Leo orbed him and Chris up to Elderland to discuss the possibility of Leo working at Magic School. Chris did as he planned, skulking around listening in on the other conversations.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Elsewhere there were three blonde witches, the Stillman sisters; Mabel, Mitzy, and Margo. They even had a small entry in the Book of Shadows: “Common witches known for their small time hustles and cons. Not worth vanquishing. If they become a nuisance, try a simple spell to bind their magic.”
These three siblings decided to take on the daunting task of ridding the world of the Charmed Ones by stealing the Book of Shadows. Their first attempt failed; they were unable to take the book. The Book sensed that they were evil and flew away from them, landing on the floor.
This didn’t stop the sisters, though, they had a plan. They would get all three of the Charmed sisters together and cast a spell to make the world think that the Stillman sisters were the actual Charmed ones; making everyone believe the blonde sisters were Piper, Phoebe and Paige. Once they did that all they would need to do is get the brunette sisters out of the house and read the spell to take the Charmed Ones powers.
Currently the Stillman sisters were in a house across the street from the manor. They had just killed the owner; leaving him on the floor with a knife sticking out of him.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Back at the manor Piper noticed that the Book of Shadows was on the floor. She made a mental note to herself to ask her sisters and Chris if they had left it there before going to the club.
Paige had a busy day at the fruit packing plant. She had never worked so hard for such little pay but what really amazed her were the two blue little gremlins that were causing havoc around the place. She decided she would head home and discuss with her sisters what to do next.
Phoebe was having a meeting with Jason and finding it harder and harder to resist reacting to her feelings for the man (or more to the point, his feelings for her). She decided to go home and discuss with her sisters a way to try to control her new empathy power.
Leo felt he was really getting through to the other Elders. He had quite a few allies and Chris was feeding him information to get the others on his side. There was a lull in conversation when he heard the sisters calling for him. Chris heard the calls too and he reassured his dad that he would handle whatever the problem was. Before Leo could come up with an objection Chris had ran off to a hidden room and orbed away.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Chris rematerialized in front of three blonde women. Although the trio knew that they were the Stillman sister; to Chris the three blonde women he was standing in front of he immediately recognized as his mother and two aunts.
“What’s going on?” he asked who he thought was his mother.
The youngest blonde sister sidled up to him and lovingly put his arm around Chris as she said, “Aren’t you a little young to be our whitelighter?” And she proceeded to rub her arm up and down his.
To say that Chris was shocked would be an understatement! The woman he saw as his Aunt Paige was hitting on him!
The blonde middle sister reached out and ran a hand through his hair and said, “Yeah, but he is kinda cute… Besides he could be much older then he appears, couldn’t you handsome?”
Chris backed up, something was wrong, now who he saw as his Aunt Phoebe was hitting on him, too! Obviously the sisters were under some kind of spell. He needed to play along until he could get to the Book or to his father.
“What are you doing over here?” he asked.
The oldest of the blonde witches glanced down at a man on the floor with a knife sticking out of him. She pulled the knife out and said, “We came over to solve a murder. We think this may lead us to the witches that caused it. We think it came from the spirit realm.”
Chris looked down at the knife then up at the woman he saw as his mother and said, “You want me to go to the spirit realm?”
“Of course, it could be too dangerous for us to go,” the woman Chris saw as Piper said.
If Chris wasn’t sure before, now he was positive something was wrong with the sisters. This wasn’t just a spell, that woman was NOT his mother. He reached his hand out and took the knife and called upon his best acting ability as he said, “Of course I can check this out. Far better for me to place myself in danger than to risk the Charmed Ones.” His smile exuded confidence that he did not feel. He found himself waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it didn’t. Instead he heard his ‘mother’ speak.
“Exactly. You are so brave. Now run along and find out everything you can,” the woman Chris saw as Piper said.
He gave a self-assured smile and orbed out of the room. He needed to figure this out and fast.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
The three Halliwell sisters met up at the manor while Piper was making lunch. As they ate they each discussed their problems. They were completely oblivious to the danger that Chris had just faced. To them they were the Charmed Ones; three magical sisters. To the rest of the world the blondes that Chris had just left were the ‘real’ Charmed Ones. All that those blonde imposters needed was for the Halliwell sisters to leave the house so they could read a magic spell from the Book of Shadows. That spell would let them steal the power from the Charmed Ones and make them the new Power of Three.
The brunette trio ate lunch in ignorance.
“I don’t understand why every temp job I get has to have some kind of magical reason! I mean really! Do I HAVE to be surrounded by magic?” Paige lamented.
“Why don’t you just make up a vanquishing potion for the gremlins?” Phoebe said offhandedly and then whined, “The real problem is Jason! Every time I’m near him I can’t keep my hands off him!”
“Maybe you should take him somewhere a bit more public, like a restaurant or something,” Piper suggested. When she finished her statement the phone rang. She answered, and then suddenly stammered out, “No! I didn’t fire them! I need them to play tonight. Ok, ok, I’ll be right there.”
“That was the club,” Piper explained, “The band just quit, I need to go and fix this.”
“Go, go, Phoebe will help me make the potion,” Paige offered then smiled at her middle sister.
Phoebe rolled her eyes but agreed. The two sisters were working on the gremlin vanquishing potion when both their cell phones rang.
Phoebe was explaining how she didn’t send in a different column that advocated alcoholism.
While Paige was explaining that she wasn’t starting a strike at the fruit packing place.
They each turned to the other as they got off the phone saying they had an emergency at work. Paige went to put the Book away but it flashed with light and darted away from her, hiding itself under a chair. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at her sister. They both decided that was something best left until they returned home and they quickly left the manor.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
The Stillman sisters let themselves into the manor. “Find the Book of Shadows,” the eldest sister commanded.
Their plan hinged on getting the “To Call the Power of a Witch” spell. Currently, to the rest of the world they were the Charmed Ones but if they couldn’t use the sisters’ powers then eventually the magical community would figure out that they weren’t really the Charmed Ones.
As the trio searched for the Book the youngest two argued about the powers. “I want to be able to travel just by thinking about it,” the middle sister exclaimed.
“Um, as the baby in the family, I'm afraid I'll be doing the orbing. We get our powers by sorority,” the youngest of the sisters, Margo explained.
“That's seniority, Margo,” the middle sister, Mitzy stated, “And that's not fair, I wanted Paige's power!”
“Don't talk to me about fair. I always got less growing up,” Margo pouted, “And usually two years out of style.”
“There is nothing wrong with Phoebe's powers, Mitzy. You'll be able to levitate,” Mabel, the eldest of the witches said offhandedly.
“Yeah,” Mitzy complained, “Six feet in the air. Margo will be orbing around the world.”
“I'll send postcards,” Margo taunted brightly.
“Don't forget you'll also have the power of premonition and empathy,” Mabel said trying to placate Mitzy.
“Like I care what happens to people or how they feel,” Mitzy grumbled.
“Well, maybe you should care, Mitzy,” Margo droned, “Instead of this me, me, me attitude all the time.”
“Oh, you know what?” Mitzy yelled, “You're about to get your teeth knocked in if you don't back off.”
“Enough!” Mabel shouted, “What is wrong with you two? We have worked way too hard to let it all fall apart now.” Just at that moment she spotted something peeking out from under the chair. She walked over and very carefully picked up the book; pleased that it didn’t leap away from her touch.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Each of the three sisters, Piper, Phoebe and Paige were thrown out of their respective places of employment. None of the three could figure out why no one recognized them. Nothing was making sense. Each decided that the best bet would be to regroup at home and see if the other siblings had an idea about what was going on.
Piper, Phoebe and Paige arrived at the manor at the same time and proceeded to enter through the front door. They were shocked to find the three blond siblings standing in their living room.
Mabel had been quickly leafing through the book and found the spell she was hunting for just as the Halliwell sisters entered the manor. Mabel, Mitzy and Margo began to chant:
“Powers of the witches rise...”
Piper exclaimed, “Hey, hey.” As she tried to freeze them but she wasn’t in time. Bright magical lights rise out of Piper, Phoebe and Paige.
Mabel, Mitzy, Margo continued chanting:
"Course unseen across the skies,
Come to us who call you near,
Come to us and settle here."
The bright magical lights sank into the blonde sisters.
Mabel smiled cruelly and said, “Let's see, what was that freaky little hand thing you did? Like this…” and she flicked her hand.
Behind Piper a vase blows up and Piper is pushed backwards. She looks at her bleeding leg. Piper cried out, “Ooh, I'm down.”
Phoebe jumps up and kicks Mabel, sending her across the room. Phoebe then turns around to face Mitzy who has levitated in the air, kicking out at Phoebe and sends her flying over the couch.
Margo grabs the lamp and tries to hit Paige with it. Paige orbs out just before Margo whacks her. She orbs back in and yelled, “I can still orb.”
Margo screeched, “Hey! That was supposed to be my power!”
Paige quickly orbs to Piper and Phoebe, places her hands on them and orbs them out as Mitzy yells, “Freeze them!”
“I don't know how,” Mabel said dejectedly.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Paige and Phoebe helped Piper limp into a motel room. Phoebe dumps some first aid supplies down and begins to tend to Piper’s leg.
“What are we going to do? We should call for Leo or Chris,” Paige says as she paces the small room.
“They aren’t going to hear us, we aren’t their charges,” Piper laments.
“What about the rest of the magical community?” Phoebe asks.
“Ow!” Piper exclaims before saying, “We aren’t magical so we won’t be able to see them.”
Paige stops her pacing and says, “Maybe not you two, but I still have my whitelighter half. I can see those gremlins at the fruit packing place. If I could get word to them…”
“Go!” Piper says and Paige orbs out before anything else is said.
Paige orbs to the fruit packaging warehouse and is surprised that there are no humans around but figures it must be due to that stupid strike the blond bimbo started earlier.
She calls out to the gremlins, “Hey little blue guys…” She walks up and sees one of the gremlins and shows it her bag of vanquishing gel, “I need a little bit of help…”
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Chris just finished meeting with two blue gremlins, and that was an experience he never wanted to go through again. He had to meet up with his family back at the manor but after the knowledge he had already gathered at the Magic School library, he knew there was one more thing he needed to do. He decided to risk being in big trouble if he were wrong and he said:
“Let my family see what needs to be seen
Make me appear older than a teen.”
The white and gold lights surrounded him and orbed back to the manor without checking to make sure the spell aged him back to the twenty year old he first appeared as.
Chris materialized in the manor in front of the blond sisters. He was still amazed that these women were not his aunts and mother! Sure he had only known his mother for a few months but he had known his aunts his entire life and these women LOOKED JUST LIKE them!
The middle sister, Mitzy saw Chris first and held onto his arm saying, “See! I told you he was older…”
The youngest sister was about to complain just as Piper, Phoebe and Paige walked into the manor. “Chris, I’m so glad you got the message,” Paige said.
“Wait, who are you?” Chris asked the newly arrived trio.
“I’m Paige,” Paige said and pointed at her sisters in turn, “And she’s Phoebe and she’s Piper…” she paused a moment before deciding not to announce the fact that Piper was Chris’s mom. She didn’t want to give the blond sisters any information that they didn’t already have.
“Prove it,” Mable taunted.
“Fine,” Paige said and she tried to orb but wasn’t able.
Margo whispered to her middle sister, “Nice antiorbing spell.”
“Go ahead, Piper, blast away,” Chris tells her.
Mabel tries to blow them up but misses and gets the window.
Phoebe points, “She missed, Chris, when have you ever known Piper to miss?”
Mabel shrugged, “Even I'm entitled to a bad day.” She tries again but blows up a pot plant instead.
Piper sees Mabel’s anger and says, “Oh, you know what? She's getting angry. And our powers don't work so good when we're angry.”
Mitzy pretends not to be phased and says, “We've got them now.”
Piper says, “Yeah, you've got us now so why don't you blow us up?”
“Piper,” Phoebe says through clenched teeth, “Death bad, life good.”
Paige sees what Piper is trying to do and says, “Don't worry; this bimbo couldn't hit the broadside of a beauty parlor. Check out that dye job.”
The blonde sisters gasp in outrage.
Mabel yells, “How dare you!” and blows up the doors.
Piper shouts, “Run!”
Piper, Phoebe and Paige run into attic and frantically search for some weapons to defend themselves with. Phoebe runs over to a large chest and pulls out a crossbow. She then hands it to Piper; she grabs a spiked ball and hands it to Paige. Finally she takes a large axe for herself.
The three position themselves around the room. Piper crouches behind a couch and Phoebe and Paige stand on each side of the door. The blonde sisters walk in. “Now!” Piper yells.
Piper pulls the trigger on the bow and an arrow heads straight for Mabel. She puts her hands up in fear and she freezes Piper, Phoebe and Paige. She plucks the arrow out of the air. With a big smile on her face Mabel says, “Oh, so that's how it works.”
Margo and Mitzy were still standing at the attic door under the weapons that Paige and Phoebe were holding. Margo asked, “Uh, could we like, not stand here right now?” and both sisters move out of the line of fire.
Mitzy asks, “Now what?”
Mabel gives a curt nod and says, “Now we kill them.”
Suddenly blue and white lights coalesce into Chris as he orbs in. He walks over to Mitzy and says, “You did it. Nice work, babe.” And he kisses her passionately.
“This is not fair!” Margo whined, “That Whitelighter belongs to me.”
Mitzy grabs her head in her hands and cries, “Ow, my head. You know, you really need to learn to control your emotions. I can't help it if Chris chose me.”
Margo squawked, “Did you sleep with him?”
Mitzy says, “No.”
Just as Chris says, “Yes.”
“You did what?” Mabel shouted, “I gave you a direct order; that Whitelighter was off limits.”
“You know what?” Mitzy states, “I am sick and tired of your orders. We both are.”
Margo stares at her middle sister and says, “Stay out of my feelings.”
“Oh, are those your feelings?” Mabel asks.
“The hell yes those are my feelings,” Margo says, “You boss us around like we're idiots.”
Mitzy gets a vibe and stares at Mabel saying, “What?” She looks to Margo, jerks her thumb back to point at Mabel and says, “She thinks we are idiots.”
Mabel doesn’t even look guilty as she says, “I didn't say that.”
Chris smiles, they were falling right into his trap, “Yeah, but I bet she felt it. My little empath feels everything.”
“He's right. You despise us,” Mitzy bawled.
Chris looks over at the Book and the triquetra on the front glows and the individual pieces of the symbol begin to shake.
“In fact, until I became an empath I never realized how much you truly hate us,” Mitzy roared.
Chris takes Mitzy's arm and says, “You know what? Come on, baby, let’s go, who needs them?” and he begins to lead her away.
Mabel shouted, “Oh, you're not going anywhere. We've got to stick together or our plan falls apart.”
Margo pointed at her sister, “See? There you go, bossing again.”
Mitzy nodded in agreement, “Mm-hm.”
Margo flings her hair over her shoulder, “Just let the little chippy run off if that's what she wants.”
Mitzy huffed, “Don't call me a chippy.” And she shoves Margo.
Margo pushes Mitzy back as she shouts, “Don't push me!”
Mabel yells, “Just shut up!” and she pushes both sisters.
Suddenly the triquetra on the book splits apart and Piper, Phoebe and Paige unfreeze.
Chris gives a comical look at the brunette sisters and says, “You should be able to handle these women now.”
Piper punches Mabel and Paige punches Margo as Phoebe walks over to Mitzy and knocks her down with a punch to the nose.
Paige asks Chris, “I take it this was all your doing?”
Chris smiles and raises his hands, “Hey, you're the one who got me here.”
Piper holds back her smile, there was one more thing she had to know, “How did you know they weren't us?”
Chris smiled shyly, “You wanted me to research something in the spirit realm because you thought it was too dangerous for the Charmed ones to do. I realized that you would never send me somewhere alone that was unsafe.”
Piper nodded and then questioned, “Wait, did you go there?”
Chris rolled his eyes and said, “Let's just reverse the magic.” He opened the book and found the correct page. Turning the book towards the sisters and waited for them to recite the magical spell.
Piper, Phoebe, Paige chanted:
"Powers of the witches rise,
Course unseen across the skies,
Come to us who call you near,
Come to us and settle here."
White magical lights rise out of the blonde sisters and sink into Piper, Phoebe and Paige.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Leo and Wyatt were in the living room. Leo is playing with Wyatt on the floor. Piper stops at the doorway watching them for a moment before saying, “So we bound their powers and handed them over to Morris. There was enough evidence across the street to book 'em for murder and if that doesn't stick, they're wanted in eight other states.”
“Well, that’s good news. And I hear that being overprotective has its merits too,” Leo says as he winks at his wife.
“Well, if I didn’t protect him, he would always put himself in danger!” Piper stated as she thought of all the things Chris had done before they knew he was fourteen. Then she smiled as she let the subject drop. “So how did it go up there?” she asked.
“You are looking at the newest assistant head teacher at Magic School,” Leo said as he rose to talk with his wife.
“Really?” She asked him.
He pulled her into a hug and said, “Yes, really! Chris’s plan worked. The other Elders completely support me being at Magic School during the day and coming home every night. They realize that we are in a unique situation and the other children could only benefit from my experience as a father.”
Piper held her husband tighter and said, “What about…”
Leo knew what she was asking and interrupted before she could finish, “Once all the other Elders spoke, Gideon decided his best bet would be to toe the party line. So that means that he ‘supports’ this too.”
Piper snuggled into her husband’s arms further. ‘One less thing to worry about,’ she decided. As she broke from the hug she saw Chris in the corner of her eye making his way up the stairs. She quietly mumbled the reversal spell to his aging glamour and smiled as she watched the white and gold lights dance around him. ‘Yes,’ she thought, ‘One less thing to worry about…’
TBC
Chapter 25
Chapter 24
Imposters
Chris and Leo returned to the manor after retrieving Wyatt from Magic School. Piper ran over and held Chris in a crushing hug. She had couldn’t believe they almost caused him to cease to exist! They were going to have to watch that boy much more carefully. She could not imagine a life without him in it now. She unconsciously placed a protective hand over her stomach as she let go of the hug. Giving her son a smile she made a promise to herself to keep the boy safe; even if it meant safe from himself.
The family sat around the dining room table enjoying a meal created by Piper. Idle chatter filled the air. Finally Leo decided it was time to tell the sisters about Chris’s plan. “We’ve been trying to figure out a way for me to stay an Elder but remain here on Earth. The other Elders have been trying to get me to stay up there. Piper and I both believe that Gideon was the one responsible for the darklighter being able to move us to the ghostly plane.”
With that Paige and Phoebe glanced at each other. They hadn’t considered how Piper and Leo were put into the other plane of existence. They had just been focusing on getting them back out.
Leo continued, “While Chris was up at Magic School he came up with a great idea.” Leo then gestured to Chris for him to finish the story.
“Yeah, well,” Chris started, “I was thinking of a way for Dad,” he smiled over at Leo when he said the name, “To stay here but I couldn’t think up anything. When Wy and I were up at Magic School I heard that Gideon’s assistant, Sigmund, had died during the Titan attack. Sigmund was an Elder too. If they needed two Elders to run the school, why couldn’t Dad be the other one?
“If he could get the other Elders to agree then he could work there during the day and still come home every night,” Chris finished off and slowly looked around the room.
Piper was beaming. Not only was this a fabulous plan but it meant that the little talk Chris and Leo had seemed to have worked. “That is a wonderful idea, Chris,” she said and then looked to Leo, “Do you think you can get the other Elders to agree?”
Leo smiled and said, “I can only think of one that would oppose it and that would be Gideon. I do believe that I can get the other Elders on my side though since Chris is right about Sigmund; then there is no reason why there shouldn’t be a second Elder there.”
Phoebe nodded saying, “I think that idea is perfect, Chris.”
Chris blushed at all of the unexpected praise as he got up to start clearing the table. Leo got up to help him and he ruffled Chris’s hair as he passed him. The two began to do the dishes in silence before Chris finally voiced the last part of the plan, “Umm, Dad.”
Leo looked over but when Chris didn’t say any more he asked, “Yeah, Son?”
Chris pressed his lips together, took in a deep breath and said, “I was thinking, when you go up there that I should go with you.”
Leo was ready to deny the boy outright but Chris pushed forward.
“Wait, hear me out. I can go and listen in on them and they won’t be able to see me. That way if they have any concerns, you can address them,” Chris had already thought this out. He had a bad feeling that his dad wouldn’t let him go but he just had to make this work. He already liked the idea of having a family. He didn’t want to be the reason that his parents had to split up. He knew that his dad was only staying an Elder to protect Chris. He put forth his best puppy dog eyes and said, “Please, Dad. I have to do this.”
Leo wasn’t sure if he should allow the boy to take that kind of risk but when he saw the look his youngest was giving him, he almost caved. “Let me talk with your mom and if she agrees then we will go together.”
Chris reached out and hugged his father saying, “Thanks Dad.” But he quickly dropped his hands feeling suddenly self-conscious.
Leo wasn’t having that, he hugged the boy tighter. Now that he had his son in his life, he was going to do everything in his power to prove his love for the boy. Chris lifted his arms back around his father and relaxed into the hug after a moment. Leo kissed the top of Chris’s head and whispered, “I love you, Son.”
Chris heard the declaration but didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure he was ready to verbalize his feelings. Instead he squeezed a second longer, broke off the hug, then picked the towel back up and began to dry the dishes again.
The three sisters talked for a few more minutes before Paige announced that she needed to get some sleep since she started her new temp job tomorrow. Phoebe said she wanted to go out with Jason so she headed up to get ready. Piper took Wyatt up for a bath.
Later that night while in bed, Leo discussed Chris’s desire to go up there with him.
Piper was adamant, “No. I won’t put him in harm’s way!”
Leo smiled, “He won’t be in danger. None of the Elders can see him. I think he’s right, if they have any objections then he will hear them and we can be better prepared.”
Piper laid her head down on Leo’s chest and sighed, “Are you sure he’ll be safe?”
Leo ran his fingers through his wife’s hair as he said, “I promise, Piper. I don’t want him in danger either, he’s my son too.” He smiled as he said those words.
Chris silently crept back to his room after eavesdropping in on his parent’s conversation. He went to bed with a smile on his face and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
That morning Leo orbed him and Chris up to Elderland to discuss the possibility of Leo working at Magic School. Chris did as he planned, skulking around listening in on the other conversations.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Elsewhere there were three blonde witches, the Stillman sisters; Mabel, Mitzy, and Margo. They even had a small entry in the Book of Shadows: “Common witches known for their small time hustles and cons. Not worth vanquishing. If they become a nuisance, try a simple spell to bind their magic.”
These three siblings decided to take on the daunting task of ridding the world of the Charmed Ones by stealing the Book of Shadows. Their first attempt failed; they were unable to take the book. The Book sensed that they were evil and flew away from them, landing on the floor.
This didn’t stop the sisters, though, they had a plan. They would get all three of the Charmed sisters together and cast a spell to make the world think that the Stillman sisters were the actual Charmed ones; making everyone believe the blonde sisters were Piper, Phoebe and Paige. Once they did that all they would need to do is get the brunette sisters out of the house and read the spell to take the Charmed Ones powers.
Currently the Stillman sisters were in a house across the street from the manor. They had just killed the owner; leaving him on the floor with a knife sticking out of him.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Back at the manor Piper noticed that the Book of Shadows was on the floor. She made a mental note to herself to ask her sisters and Chris if they had left it there before going to the club.
Paige had a busy day at the fruit packing plant. She had never worked so hard for such little pay but what really amazed her were the two blue little gremlins that were causing havoc around the place. She decided she would head home and discuss with her sisters what to do next.
Phoebe was having a meeting with Jason and finding it harder and harder to resist reacting to her feelings for the man (or more to the point, his feelings for her). She decided to go home and discuss with her sisters a way to try to control her new empathy power.
Leo felt he was really getting through to the other Elders. He had quite a few allies and Chris was feeding him information to get the others on his side. There was a lull in conversation when he heard the sisters calling for him. Chris heard the calls too and he reassured his dad that he would handle whatever the problem was. Before Leo could come up with an objection Chris had ran off to a hidden room and orbed away.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Chris rematerialized in front of three blonde women. Although the trio knew that they were the Stillman sister; to Chris the three blonde women he was standing in front of he immediately recognized as his mother and two aunts.
“What’s going on?” he asked who he thought was his mother.
The youngest blonde sister sidled up to him and lovingly put his arm around Chris as she said, “Aren’t you a little young to be our whitelighter?” And she proceeded to rub her arm up and down his.
To say that Chris was shocked would be an understatement! The woman he saw as his Aunt Paige was hitting on him!
The blonde middle sister reached out and ran a hand through his hair and said, “Yeah, but he is kinda cute… Besides he could be much older then he appears, couldn’t you handsome?”
Chris backed up, something was wrong, now who he saw as his Aunt Phoebe was hitting on him, too! Obviously the sisters were under some kind of spell. He needed to play along until he could get to the Book or to his father.
“What are you doing over here?” he asked.
The oldest of the blonde witches glanced down at a man on the floor with a knife sticking out of him. She pulled the knife out and said, “We came over to solve a murder. We think this may lead us to the witches that caused it. We think it came from the spirit realm.”
Chris looked down at the knife then up at the woman he saw as his mother and said, “You want me to go to the spirit realm?”
“Of course, it could be too dangerous for us to go,” the woman Chris saw as Piper said.
If Chris wasn’t sure before, now he was positive something was wrong with the sisters. This wasn’t just a spell, that woman was NOT his mother. He reached his hand out and took the knife and called upon his best acting ability as he said, “Of course I can check this out. Far better for me to place myself in danger than to risk the Charmed Ones.” His smile exuded confidence that he did not feel. He found himself waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it didn’t. Instead he heard his ‘mother’ speak.
“Exactly. You are so brave. Now run along and find out everything you can,” the woman Chris saw as Piper said.
He gave a self-assured smile and orbed out of the room. He needed to figure this out and fast.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
The three Halliwell sisters met up at the manor while Piper was making lunch. As they ate they each discussed their problems. They were completely oblivious to the danger that Chris had just faced. To them they were the Charmed Ones; three magical sisters. To the rest of the world the blondes that Chris had just left were the ‘real’ Charmed Ones. All that those blonde imposters needed was for the Halliwell sisters to leave the house so they could read a magic spell from the Book of Shadows. That spell would let them steal the power from the Charmed Ones and make them the new Power of Three.
The brunette trio ate lunch in ignorance.
“I don’t understand why every temp job I get has to have some kind of magical reason! I mean really! Do I HAVE to be surrounded by magic?” Paige lamented.
“Why don’t you just make up a vanquishing potion for the gremlins?” Phoebe said offhandedly and then whined, “The real problem is Jason! Every time I’m near him I can’t keep my hands off him!”
“Maybe you should take him somewhere a bit more public, like a restaurant or something,” Piper suggested. When she finished her statement the phone rang. She answered, and then suddenly stammered out, “No! I didn’t fire them! I need them to play tonight. Ok, ok, I’ll be right there.”
“That was the club,” Piper explained, “The band just quit, I need to go and fix this.”
“Go, go, Phoebe will help me make the potion,” Paige offered then smiled at her middle sister.
Phoebe rolled her eyes but agreed. The two sisters were working on the gremlin vanquishing potion when both their cell phones rang.
Phoebe was explaining how she didn’t send in a different column that advocated alcoholism.
While Paige was explaining that she wasn’t starting a strike at the fruit packing place.
They each turned to the other as they got off the phone saying they had an emergency at work. Paige went to put the Book away but it flashed with light and darted away from her, hiding itself under a chair. She shrugged her shoulders and looked at her sister. They both decided that was something best left until they returned home and they quickly left the manor.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
The Stillman sisters let themselves into the manor. “Find the Book of Shadows,” the eldest sister commanded.
Their plan hinged on getting the “To Call the Power of a Witch” spell. Currently, to the rest of the world they were the Charmed Ones but if they couldn’t use the sisters’ powers then eventually the magical community would figure out that they weren’t really the Charmed Ones.
As the trio searched for the Book the youngest two argued about the powers. “I want to be able to travel just by thinking about it,” the middle sister exclaimed.
“Um, as the baby in the family, I'm afraid I'll be doing the orbing. We get our powers by sorority,” the youngest of the sisters, Margo explained.
“That's seniority, Margo,” the middle sister, Mitzy stated, “And that's not fair, I wanted Paige's power!”
“Don't talk to me about fair. I always got less growing up,” Margo pouted, “And usually two years out of style.”
“There is nothing wrong with Phoebe's powers, Mitzy. You'll be able to levitate,” Mabel, the eldest of the witches said offhandedly.
“Yeah,” Mitzy complained, “Six feet in the air. Margo will be orbing around the world.”
“I'll send postcards,” Margo taunted brightly.
“Don't forget you'll also have the power of premonition and empathy,” Mabel said trying to placate Mitzy.
“Like I care what happens to people or how they feel,” Mitzy grumbled.
“Well, maybe you should care, Mitzy,” Margo droned, “Instead of this me, me, me attitude all the time.”
“Oh, you know what?” Mitzy yelled, “You're about to get your teeth knocked in if you don't back off.”
“Enough!” Mabel shouted, “What is wrong with you two? We have worked way too hard to let it all fall apart now.” Just at that moment she spotted something peeking out from under the chair. She walked over and very carefully picked up the book; pleased that it didn’t leap away from her touch.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Each of the three sisters, Piper, Phoebe and Paige were thrown out of their respective places of employment. None of the three could figure out why no one recognized them. Nothing was making sense. Each decided that the best bet would be to regroup at home and see if the other siblings had an idea about what was going on.
Piper, Phoebe and Paige arrived at the manor at the same time and proceeded to enter through the front door. They were shocked to find the three blond siblings standing in their living room.
Mabel had been quickly leafing through the book and found the spell she was hunting for just as the Halliwell sisters entered the manor. Mabel, Mitzy and Margo began to chant:
“Powers of the witches rise...”
Piper exclaimed, “Hey, hey.” As she tried to freeze them but she wasn’t in time. Bright magical lights rise out of Piper, Phoebe and Paige.
Mabel, Mitzy, Margo continued chanting:
"Course unseen across the skies,
Come to us who call you near,
Come to us and settle here."
The bright magical lights sank into the blonde sisters.
Mabel smiled cruelly and said, “Let's see, what was that freaky little hand thing you did? Like this…” and she flicked her hand.
Behind Piper a vase blows up and Piper is pushed backwards. She looks at her bleeding leg. Piper cried out, “Ooh, I'm down.”
Phoebe jumps up and kicks Mabel, sending her across the room. Phoebe then turns around to face Mitzy who has levitated in the air, kicking out at Phoebe and sends her flying over the couch.
Margo grabs the lamp and tries to hit Paige with it. Paige orbs out just before Margo whacks her. She orbs back in and yelled, “I can still orb.”
Margo screeched, “Hey! That was supposed to be my power!”
Paige quickly orbs to Piper and Phoebe, places her hands on them and orbs them out as Mitzy yells, “Freeze them!”
“I don't know how,” Mabel said dejectedly.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Paige and Phoebe helped Piper limp into a motel room. Phoebe dumps some first aid supplies down and begins to tend to Piper’s leg.
“What are we going to do? We should call for Leo or Chris,” Paige says as she paces the small room.
“They aren’t going to hear us, we aren’t their charges,” Piper laments.
“What about the rest of the magical community?” Phoebe asks.
“Ow!” Piper exclaims before saying, “We aren’t magical so we won’t be able to see them.”
Paige stops her pacing and says, “Maybe not you two, but I still have my whitelighter half. I can see those gremlins at the fruit packing place. If I could get word to them…”
“Go!” Piper says and Paige orbs out before anything else is said.
Paige orbs to the fruit packaging warehouse and is surprised that there are no humans around but figures it must be due to that stupid strike the blond bimbo started earlier.
She calls out to the gremlins, “Hey little blue guys…” She walks up and sees one of the gremlins and shows it her bag of vanquishing gel, “I need a little bit of help…”
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Chris just finished meeting with two blue gremlins, and that was an experience he never wanted to go through again. He had to meet up with his family back at the manor but after the knowledge he had already gathered at the Magic School library, he knew there was one more thing he needed to do. He decided to risk being in big trouble if he were wrong and he said:
“Let my family see what needs to be seen
Make me appear older than a teen.”
The white and gold lights surrounded him and orbed back to the manor without checking to make sure the spell aged him back to the twenty year old he first appeared as.
Chris materialized in the manor in front of the blond sisters. He was still amazed that these women were not his aunts and mother! Sure he had only known his mother for a few months but he had known his aunts his entire life and these women LOOKED JUST LIKE them!
The middle sister, Mitzy saw Chris first and held onto his arm saying, “See! I told you he was older…”
The youngest sister was about to complain just as Piper, Phoebe and Paige walked into the manor. “Chris, I’m so glad you got the message,” Paige said.
“Wait, who are you?” Chris asked the newly arrived trio.
“I’m Paige,” Paige said and pointed at her sisters in turn, “And she’s Phoebe and she’s Piper…” she paused a moment before deciding not to announce the fact that Piper was Chris’s mom. She didn’t want to give the blond sisters any information that they didn’t already have.
“Prove it,” Mable taunted.
“Fine,” Paige said and she tried to orb but wasn’t able.
Margo whispered to her middle sister, “Nice antiorbing spell.”
“Go ahead, Piper, blast away,” Chris tells her.
Mabel tries to blow them up but misses and gets the window.
Phoebe points, “She missed, Chris, when have you ever known Piper to miss?”
Mabel shrugged, “Even I'm entitled to a bad day.” She tries again but blows up a pot plant instead.
Piper sees Mabel’s anger and says, “Oh, you know what? She's getting angry. And our powers don't work so good when we're angry.”
Mitzy pretends not to be phased and says, “We've got them now.”
Piper says, “Yeah, you've got us now so why don't you blow us up?”
“Piper,” Phoebe says through clenched teeth, “Death bad, life good.”
Paige sees what Piper is trying to do and says, “Don't worry; this bimbo couldn't hit the broadside of a beauty parlor. Check out that dye job.”
The blonde sisters gasp in outrage.
Mabel yells, “How dare you!” and blows up the doors.
Piper shouts, “Run!”
Piper, Phoebe and Paige run into attic and frantically search for some weapons to defend themselves with. Phoebe runs over to a large chest and pulls out a crossbow. She then hands it to Piper; she grabs a spiked ball and hands it to Paige. Finally she takes a large axe for herself.
The three position themselves around the room. Piper crouches behind a couch and Phoebe and Paige stand on each side of the door. The blonde sisters walk in. “Now!” Piper yells.
Piper pulls the trigger on the bow and an arrow heads straight for Mabel. She puts her hands up in fear and she freezes Piper, Phoebe and Paige. She plucks the arrow out of the air. With a big smile on her face Mabel says, “Oh, so that's how it works.”
Margo and Mitzy were still standing at the attic door under the weapons that Paige and Phoebe were holding. Margo asked, “Uh, could we like, not stand here right now?” and both sisters move out of the line of fire.
Mitzy asks, “Now what?”
Mabel gives a curt nod and says, “Now we kill them.”
Suddenly blue and white lights coalesce into Chris as he orbs in. He walks over to Mitzy and says, “You did it. Nice work, babe.” And he kisses her passionately.
“This is not fair!” Margo whined, “That Whitelighter belongs to me.”
Mitzy grabs her head in her hands and cries, “Ow, my head. You know, you really need to learn to control your emotions. I can't help it if Chris chose me.”
Margo squawked, “Did you sleep with him?”
Mitzy says, “No.”
Just as Chris says, “Yes.”
“You did what?” Mabel shouted, “I gave you a direct order; that Whitelighter was off limits.”
“You know what?” Mitzy states, “I am sick and tired of your orders. We both are.”
Margo stares at her middle sister and says, “Stay out of my feelings.”
“Oh, are those your feelings?” Mabel asks.
“The hell yes those are my feelings,” Margo says, “You boss us around like we're idiots.”
Mitzy gets a vibe and stares at Mabel saying, “What?” She looks to Margo, jerks her thumb back to point at Mabel and says, “She thinks we are idiots.”
Mabel doesn’t even look guilty as she says, “I didn't say that.”
Chris smiles, they were falling right into his trap, “Yeah, but I bet she felt it. My little empath feels everything.”
“He's right. You despise us,” Mitzy bawled.
Chris looks over at the Book and the triquetra on the front glows and the individual pieces of the symbol begin to shake.
“In fact, until I became an empath I never realized how much you truly hate us,” Mitzy roared.
Chris takes Mitzy's arm and says, “You know what? Come on, baby, let’s go, who needs them?” and he begins to lead her away.
Mabel shouted, “Oh, you're not going anywhere. We've got to stick together or our plan falls apart.”
Margo pointed at her sister, “See? There you go, bossing again.”
Mitzy nodded in agreement, “Mm-hm.”
Margo flings her hair over her shoulder, “Just let the little chippy run off if that's what she wants.”
Mitzy huffed, “Don't call me a chippy.” And she shoves Margo.
Margo pushes Mitzy back as she shouts, “Don't push me!”
Mabel yells, “Just shut up!” and she pushes both sisters.
Suddenly the triquetra on the book splits apart and Piper, Phoebe and Paige unfreeze.
Chris gives a comical look at the brunette sisters and says, “You should be able to handle these women now.”
Piper punches Mabel and Paige punches Margo as Phoebe walks over to Mitzy and knocks her down with a punch to the nose.
Paige asks Chris, “I take it this was all your doing?”
Chris smiles and raises his hands, “Hey, you're the one who got me here.”
Piper holds back her smile, there was one more thing she had to know, “How did you know they weren't us?”
Chris smiled shyly, “You wanted me to research something in the spirit realm because you thought it was too dangerous for the Charmed ones to do. I realized that you would never send me somewhere alone that was unsafe.”
Piper nodded and then questioned, “Wait, did you go there?”
Chris rolled his eyes and said, “Let's just reverse the magic.” He opened the book and found the correct page. Turning the book towards the sisters and waited for them to recite the magical spell.
Piper, Phoebe, Paige chanted:
"Powers of the witches rise,
Course unseen across the skies,
Come to us who call you near,
Come to us and settle here."
White magical lights rise out of the blonde sisters and sink into Piper, Phoebe and Paige.
/ CHARMED / CHARMED / CHARMED /
Leo and Wyatt were in the living room. Leo is playing with Wyatt on the floor. Piper stops at the doorway watching them for a moment before saying, “So we bound their powers and handed them over to Morris. There was enough evidence across the street to book 'em for murder and if that doesn't stick, they're wanted in eight other states.”
“Well, that’s good news. And I hear that being overprotective has its merits too,” Leo says as he winks at his wife.
“Well, if I didn’t protect him, he would always put himself in danger!” Piper stated as she thought of all the things Chris had done before they knew he was fourteen. Then she smiled as she let the subject drop. “So how did it go up there?” she asked.
“You are looking at the newest assistant head teacher at Magic School,” Leo said as he rose to talk with his wife.
“Really?” She asked him.
He pulled her into a hug and said, “Yes, really! Chris’s plan worked. The other Elders completely support me being at Magic School during the day and coming home every night. They realize that we are in a unique situation and the other children could only benefit from my experience as a father.”
Piper held her husband tighter and said, “What about…”
Leo knew what she was asking and interrupted before she could finish, “Once all the other Elders spoke, Gideon decided his best bet would be to toe the party line. So that means that he ‘supports’ this too.”
Piper snuggled into her husband’s arms further. ‘One less thing to worry about,’ she decided. As she broke from the hug she saw Chris in the corner of her eye making his way up the stairs. She quietly mumbled the reversal spell to his aging glamour and smiled as she watched the white and gold lights dance around him. ‘Yes,’ she thought, ‘One less thing to worry about…’
TBC
Chapter 25